Arturo Alessandri Palma, (born Dec. 20, 1868, Longavi, Chile—died Aug. 24, 1950, Santiago) Chilean president (1920–25, 1932–38) who early defended workers’ groups, especially the nitrate miners of the north, but later, as a member of the Liberal Party, became more conservative.

Alessandri Palma

Courtesy of the Organization of American States

The son of an Italian immigrant, Alessandri was graduated in law from the University of Chile in 1893 and in 1897 was elected to the Chamber of Deputies. He was at various times minister of industry, minister of finance, congressman (six times), senator (twice), and president.

Alessandri was elected president in 1920 as the candidate of a liberal coalition. After growing frustrated with Chile’s largely conservative and uncooperative Congress, he voluntarily went into exile on Sept. 15, 1924, upon which the country was ruled by military juntas. He was soon recalled, and on March 20, 1925, he returned on condition that the constitution be rewritten to give the president greater power. He resigned later that year, but became president again in 1932, although this time as a strict constitutionalist, depending on support primarily from the political right. Although he promoted economic recovery from the depression caused by decreased world demands for Chilean nitrates and copper, he had by then alienated most of his labour and middle-class support, who joined the Popular Front. When elected to the Senate in 1946, Alessandri again displayed liberal leanings.

Alessandri was the founder of a political and economic dynasty that persisted into the 21st century and included his son Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez, who was president of Chile (1958–64). Another son, Fernando, served as a senator and was a presidential candidate. Other family members have also served as senators or as representatives in the Chilean Chamber of Deputies.

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In the decade following World War I, falling saltpetre sales and rising inflation fueled dissatisfaction among the middle and working classes. They supported the election of the reformist president Arturo Alessandri Palma in 1920. When the legislature blocked his initiatives, discontent spread to middle-class army officers. They intervened in 1924 to force parliamentary passage of his social...